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The Music in It

Saturday, October 20, 2012

I know I promised that this
wouldn’t be an “about me” blog, but sometimes an incredible magic happens when
we take our poetry into the world, and I’d like to share a recent experience
with you. Last Sunday (October 14th), I had the honor of reading at
the 14th Biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. I read from my
newest collection of poems, What Matters,
which speaks to the fact that we’re all survivors of one thing or another (fear,
grief, illness, loss). The individual details may be different, but we’re all
survivors.

When I read from the book’s
second section (which deals with my own breast cancer experience), I spoke
about the conditions of survival and the ways in which we remember how to live.
I also mentioned that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—a time
to remember and a time to hope for a cure. Spoken word poet Taylor Mali read after
I did and noted that he lost his mom to breast cancer; he then read a poem
about his mom that he dedicated to her and to me—a lovely, spontaneous gesture.

After the reading, a lady I’d
never met before asked me to sign her program and said my words would remain
with her (that’s her with me in the photo above). On the way out of the
building, a group of young people came up to me and thanked me for the reading—several
shook my hand, and one said that his mother is a survivor and that he could
hear her “life” in my poems. Later, in NJPAC’s lobby area, two ladies asked me to
sign their copies of What Matters (I
remembered seeing them atthe
reading). One told me that she, too, is a survivor and how much my poems meant
to her. In the book tent, a man came up to me and said that his wife is a
survivor and that after hearing my poems he understands better what she went
through. He said he was going home after the festival to give her a big hug and
a copy of my book (I admit to the tears in my eyes.) These were all reactions that I couldn't possibly have anticipated.

Reading at the Dodge Festival was a
special honor, and I send my sincerest thanks to Martin Farawell, Dodge Poetry Program Director, for inviting me to be part of such an exceptional poetry celebration. As always, the Festival brought people together and reminded us that poetry is about addressing the human condition deeply and, in the
process, confirming that we’re all
brothers and sisters—that we’re not alone. I’m so very grateful!

This week, I’d like you to write about a magical
moment in your life. There’s no
formula for such moments, most come unplanned and unexpected, and are all the
more meaningful for that. As Jane Kenyon wrote in her poem “Happiness,”

There’s just no accounting for happiness,

or the way it turns up like a prodigal

who comes back to the dust at your feet …

The experience you write about this week may be a
major one (falling in love, your wedding, the birth of a child, a long-time
goal achieved, surviving a challenge) or it may be a small moment of joy (a
detail in the happiness of your larger life). Your moment may be part of a continuum as in “Painting” by my dear friend and distinguished poet Ed Romond:

This week, you’re called to
remember and to write. Dig deeply into your heart’s archives and look around
you (perhaps the leaves’ changing colors, a certain song, a photograph, or a
souvenir tucked away in a dresser drawer will bring a special moment back to
you).

Here are five tips:

1. Don’t simply tell a story
(remember, this is a poem, not a journal entry, and you’ll need to avoid
writing from a prose impulse as you move from the personal to the universal).

2. Work on a sense
of immediacy (even when you write in the past tense). Stay away from the
passive voice, and be wary of words that end in “ing” (gerunds).

3. Avoid over-use
of adjectives

4. Eliminate
prepositions whenever you can (i.e., the sky’s length rather than the length of
the sky).

5. Don’t over-write—watch
out for too many details, and don’t try to explain everything. Think about
this: a poem with only five great lines should be five lines long. And remember what
Dylan Thomas wrote, “You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick …
you’re back with the mystery of having been moved by words. The best
craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps … so that something that is not in
the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in.”

20 comments:

Adele! How wonderfully beautiful! I'm so happy for you and for the people who heard you read. We don't have anything like the Dodge Festival here in England -- I so wish that we did, and I thank you for sharing this with us.

Wonderful example poems, especially the Jane Kenyon, which I haven't seen before.

As you might guess, poetry is often celebrated here in ireland, and we have heard of the Geraldine R. Dodge Festival in the US - I would say that the Dodge Festival is internationally known and respected.

Thank you, Adele, for your blog and all the poetry sharing!

For anyone interested, here's the link to a wonderful site dealing with Celtic poetry: http://www.thepoetsgarret.com/celtic1.html

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ABOUT NOT ASKING WHAT IF

"Kenny has written some of the most hauntingly beautiful spiritual haiku I’ve ever read—haiku that take us as close to divinity as human language can get. Her haiku are spare and commanding, rich in imagery, and layered with meaning." (Alex Pinto, Tiferet)

“Traditional haiku, environmental haiku, psychological haiku, spiritual haiku—Adele Kenny has done them all. Her haiku are spare and powerful, always nuanced with rich symbolism. Her images and juxtapositions make readers hold their breath in wonder.” (Malachy McCourt, Author of A Monk Swimming)

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WHAT MATTERS

ABOUT WHAT MATTERS

"In Adele Kenny's finely wrought meditations on grief and loss, she never forgets that she's a maker of poems. What Matters straddles two of the exigencies of the human condition: diminishment and endurance. It abounds with poems that skillfully earn their sentiments." (Stephen Dunn, Pulitzer Prize in Poetry)

"These are poems that come to (poetic) grips with the issues of grief, fear, and death ... focused in a new and strong way." (Gerald Stern, National Book Award in Poetry)

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I’m the author of 24 books (poetry & nonfiction) with poems published in journals worldwide, as well as in books and anthologies from Crown, Tuttle, Shambhala, and McGraw-Hill.
I’ve worked as a guest poet for numerous agencies, have twice been a featured reader in the Dodge Poetry Festival, and my awards include two poetry fellowships from the NJ State Arts Council, the 2012 International Book Award for Poetry, and the Distinguished Alumni Award (Kean University). My book, A LIGHTNESS, A THIRST, OR NOTHING AT ALL, is a 2016 Paterson Prize finalist. In March of 2012, I was appointed Poet Laureate of Fanwood, NJ by the Borough Mayor and Council.
A former professor of creative writing in the College of New Rochelle’s Graduate School, I’m founding director of the Carriage House Poetry Series and poetry editor for Tiferet Journal. I give readings and conduct both agency-sponsored and private poetry workshops.

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ON THE TIP OF YOUR TONGUE

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